So with the internet all abuzz with yet another big WotC announcement today I’m gonna take my time to weign in on the subject without spamming up my twitter feed and probably annoying some people to death.
First off let me just say that despite my video game background and lust for all things technological – I’m not a virtual table kind of guy. I like the tangible, tactile parts of D&D the same way I’d rather read a book on dead trees than something that runs on batteries. I’m not against virtual games as I know that it’s some folks only means of gaming and that it can make certain social barriers easier to handle for a lot of people, among many other perks.
I am a fan however, of WotC’s attempts to keep their product marketable to the new generation of role players, offering red box products inside the Targets and Wal-Marts of the world and as well as other things I’ve already talked about here and on twitter. Granted going with Java that isn’t interoperable with their other digital offerings doesn’t seem to make much sense I’m happy to see an officially supported 4e gametable in the works.
I have obviously had my little gripes with the new Character Builder since tuesday, but overall I’m happy with it and I’m sure it will only improve from here on out. I understand that everyone’s mileage will vary with a DDI subscription but for $5 and some change a month I’m honestly pretty pleased with mine, and I’ll most likely re-sub when my time is up because DDI’s future is definitely looking bright. I would love to beta test this new app too, perhaps it would get me in the mood to run some internet games and maybe see what it’s all about, but I won’t be holding my breath.
All in all I think this is great, and while it may have it’s hiccups and quirks, it will definitely be worth it. People should find less to complain about and more to game about!
Agreed. I can see the potential in the Character Builder, and I’m banking on that potential. As far as the virtual table top goes, I have a player who lives in California (the rest of my group is in Pennsylvania), and Skype seems to work fine for us. This might be something to look into, but would necessitate having a second laptop at the table. I am hoping that I can use it to put together battle maps using existing Dungeon Tile sets, and export them into some sort of image file; that would make my prep a lot easier!